He Cared
by TheStendanExperience
Summary: A gap-filler. After Hyde tells Kelso that he's a tool for trying to get out of Brooke's pregnancy. Hyde's thought drift to Jackie and everything between them.


Disclaimer: _**That '70s Show**_ is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979. It debuted on the Fox television network, first airing on August 1998, running for eight consecutive seasons, and concluding with the 200th episode on May 18, 2006. Plus, if I did own T7S I would have had Hyde/Jackie together and if not them, then Eric/Jackie.

Summary: A gap-filler. After Hyde tells Kelso that he's a tool for trying to get out of Brooke's pregnancy. Hyde's thought drift to Jackie and everything between them.

* * *

It had taken his Doll a long time to fall asleep.

Hyde knew this because he had waited, in the half darkness, listening for her breathing to even out, and for the fist that was gripping the back of his neck to loosen up. Once one happened, the other had followed within minutes, and Hyde had found _himself_ breathing a huge fucking sigh of relief. Or was it contentment? Either way, he gradually began to relax against the pillows of his cot, holding Doll to his chest while rubbing his right palm idly down her back, in soothing rotations.

The past few hours had been a complete mind fuck. Hyde wasn't entirely convinced that, at any moment, he wouldn't waken up and find that the whole night had been some surreal nightmare/dream, brought about by Kelso's stupidity. He tightened his arm around Doll - reassuring himself that she was in fact real - and tucked the cover closer to her waist. He didn't want her to get cold.

He dropped his nose into the hair on the top of her head and breathed in, feeling every muscle in his body tighten and coil. _Goddamn. _He was hard again. She always aroused him like no other girl had before her. No scent had the effect that the sweet lavender fragrance of Jackie's hair had on him. He wasn't sure whether it was a nostalgic thing or that it was simply because he desired her in indescribably and scary ways. _Whatever._ Now that he had access to that shit, he was going to abuse the fact tirelessly.

She shifted against his side, murmured an unidentifiable word, and nuzzled his neck with her nose. Hyde's eyes closed gently at the sensation of her warm breath as it wafted over the stubble of his throat and jaw. Never, in the years that he had been sexually aware of girls and women, had he ever held one of them the way that he was holding Doll. And in his fucking cot no less. Bud and Edna would have a fucking field day with that little nugget of information.

The weird thing, however - and this realization had come quickly to Hyde - was that it didn't feel unnatural. Truth was that shit felt altogether too natural. Just like when they had kissed or when he had had her nipple in his mouth. _Fuck._ That shit just seemed to happen so organically: no pressure, expectation or worry.

Being with Jackie that way to Hyde was, not just the sexiest thing he had ever experienced, but also the most uncomplicated. Sure, their relationship was above and beyond unorthodox, and there was a tangled web of shit that would have to be addressed and soon, but everything else just seemed to fade into the background when he had her underneath him, writhing, panting and wanting him. And, fuck, he wanted her too. He was crazy in love, lust, and need for her.

Nonetheless, he had to admit, he had even surprised himself when he had stopped the actions that would have surely resulted in his being inside of her. At the sight of Jackie's obvious distress that Kelso had caused, the panic that he had felt had manifested itself as a lump in his throat and vice around his chest. The damn heartburn had reared its ugly head with a vengeance, and a shiver of fear had snuck down his spine like a winter frost.

He couldn't be with her when she was like that. It was wrong. It was wrong for his Doll to think should they ever be in the position Kelso and Brooke had got themselves into that he would abandon her or deny he was the father. But he couldn't blame her. Both of them had insecurities stemming from the people, who were supposed to love and protect them, abandon them without a care at an early age. One having to fend for himself while the other was bought her affection with money.

Yeah, he had been a fucking asshole with women in the past, but Jackie was different. She was his Doll and he cared about her. _Cared._ Yeah, cared was the right word. He was comfortable with that shit. He could deal with that.

He sighed and smiled gently to himself as he watched Jackie's head rise at the same time that his chest did. She certainly fit well against him. And she had felt goddamn perfect wrapped around him before the shit had hit the fucking fan.

Her reaction as soon as they got into his bedroom in the basement shocking as it was bizarre. Hyde had had no clue as to why she had become so irate. As he watched her sleep - her face so damn beautiful and peaceful - he could only surmise that she was afraid, for reasons he was fucking determined to discover, she despised, or certainly disliked very much. The ferocity with which she had reacted and the force with which she had pushed and shoved at him would have been hot as fuck, had Hyde not been worried sick about her.

It was a fucking paradox of epic proportions. Jackie's feistiness, fierceness, vulnerability, and compassion were just four of the reasons why Hyde gravitated to her so much. It was so fucking sexy when she put him in his place – he had been hard the very second that she had first stood up to him. Her strength seemed to call to a part of Hyde that he didn't even know existed, but strangely, seeing her so lost and distraught while she paced around his room, had called to an even bigger part: the part that wanted to care for and protect.

Hyde knew that he was possessive of his Doll, and that that possessiveness was driven by the jealous and controlling asshole within him. _This_ possessiveness, however, came from a place of fear. Hyde had been terrified - as she shouted, cried and lashed out - that someone had hurt her or caused her pain, and, as well as making him livid, it also scared the shit out of him. If she'd been hurt while she was away from him, he would never have forgiven himself which was, for many reasons, fucking ridiculous. No matter. The truth was Hyde wasn't quite sure what the hell he would do if something happened to her. He reveled in the feeling of having Jackie behind him, around him, holding onto him, just anywhere near him in general.

He looked once again at Jackie's sleeping form, and swallowed down his fear. _She's here. She's calm. She's okay now, man._ His arms tightened around her even more, making her release a shaky breath, and he snuck another deep sniff from her luscious, thick curls. _Perfect._

Yeah, he cared about her he thought as he closed his eyes and held her close. He cared about her a whole fucking heap.

_He cared._

* * *

I always wondered what Hyde/Jackie really did after he told Kelso he was a tool for trying to weasel his way out of Brooke's pregnancy. I can only imagine Jackie was terrified. After all, she had a pregnancy scare while she was with Kelso.

Read & Review!

~Nim*hugs*


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